FLASH
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Agents from the Central Operations Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil entered the headquarters of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) on Ferraz Street in Madrid this Wednesday morning to request additional documentation related to the investigation into former PSOE member Leire Díez.
The news was confirmed by sources close to the investigation to the newspaper EL PAÍS.
The operation was ordered by National Court judge Santiago Pedraz. At the same time, the Guardia Civil is also carrying out searches at the Madrid homes of former socialist leaders Gaspar Zarrías and Santos Cerdán, as well as businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, who have already been formally investigated in the case.
According to sources from the investigative group, the case involves suspicions of payments by the PSOE to Leire Díez and other individuals, as well as investigations into suspected pressure or interference activities against judges and prosecutors.
PSOE spokeswoman Montse Mínguez declared in an interview with Catalunya Radio that the party will fully cooperate with justice. “The Socialist Party is different from the Popular Party and we have shown this many times. There is no destruction of evidence. Any information requested will be handed over,” she said.
At the center of the investigation is also a suspected corruption scheme for which Leire Díez, former SEPI president Vicente Fernández Guerrero and Basque businessman Antxon Alonso, owner of the Servinabar company and friend of Santos Cerdán, former organizational secretary of the PSOE, were arrested in December.
According to investigators, the three suspects used a WhatsApp group named “Hiruro” (“the three of us” in Basque) and allegedly created a structure for the benefit of illegal commissions during the years 2021–2023, with the help of “various public officials.”
The investigation focuses on five operations totaling 132.9 million euros in state aid and public contracts. The suspects are accused of abuse of office, embezzlement of public funds, influence peddling and participation in a criminal organization.
Among the companies included in the investigation are Mercasa, Enusa, PEPA, Sepides, Servinabar, Forestalia and Tubos Reunidos, a company for which SEPI approved a rescue package of 112.8 million euros in 2021 with the approval of the Council of Ministers.
According to initial estimates by investigators, the suspected bribes exceeded 750,000 euros and were channeled through the company Mediaciones Martínez SL.
After the operation was made public, the leader of the Spanish opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called for early elections. “We are in an agonizing situation. The dignity of not only the government and the PSOE is being called into question, but there is a risk of this institutional degradation spreading,” he declared in the Congress of Deputies.
On the other hand, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, defended the principle of “zero tolerance towards any irregular or illegal behavior” and called for respect for judicial processes and the presumption of innocence.
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